Potential test well delay for the Monterey Peninsula water supply project

It could be December before the state Coastal Commission considers a crucial test well application for the Monterey Peninsula water supply project, the latest potential delay for the proposal.

The "worst case" scenario has the Coastal Commission considering the revised application just before the end of this year, said Rich Svindland, California American Water's director of engineering.

Approval would allow for the proposed slant test well and two monitoring wells to be drilled on the Cemex property north of Marina by the beginning of next year.

Svindland told the Peninsula mayors water authority technical advisory committee on Monday that would still allow Cal Am to finish the wells' construction by early next year, within the snowy plover non-nesting season.

Cal Am has already been forced to revise its test well application to avoid construction impacts to the protected species, and just finished submitting amended applications to the city of Marina, the Coastal Commission and other regulatory agencies earlier this month. The company's original plan called for installing the wells this fall.

The test well project is considered crucial to the success of Cal Am's proposed $400 million water supply project. It's designed to provide geologic, hydrogeological and water quality data from the shallower Sand Dunes aquifer, the so-called 180-foot aquifer, and the Salinas Valley "aquitard"—a barrier between the two aquifers — where the private company wants to draw feeder water for a desalination plant.

Cal Am has promised to try limiting its pumping to the shallower aquifer as part of a proposed settlement agreement with the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, in deference to Salinas Valley growers who oppose tapping the deeper aquifer.

The wells will operate 24 hours a day for up to 24 months, through March 2016, said the application, which also assumes the wells project is "categorically exempt" from environmental review because it is designed to gather data to be used in the overall water supply project's environmental review.

However, critics have called for a full environmental review for the test well project.

Svindland said that in an effort to expedite the process, Cal Am is trying to get the Coastal Commission to forgo its usual practice of waiting until after the other regulatory agencies consider the project, and Carmel Mayor Jason Burnett said local officials would also reach out to the commission.

Also Monday, the advisory committee recommended taking a strong role in the state water board's consideration of desalination policy, which is focused largely on feeder water intake and brine disposal issues.

The state board is in the midst of conducting statewide workshops on a proposed amendment to its Ocean Plan dealing with desalination that would establish guidelines on the issue, and is set to start public hearings later this year. The goal is to approve a final amendment by the beginning of next year.